Greenhouse-bench.



F. J. MEAD.

GREENHOUSE BENCH.

.APPLlcATloN $111211 JULY 9.1917.

Patented Mar. 11,1919.,`

Hi H MH! I) FEED J. MEAD, 0E NEWARK, NEW JEESEY'.

GREENHOUSE-BENCE.

TolaZZ 'whom t 'may concern VBe it known thatY I, FRED J. MEAD, a a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, county of Essex, and State Vof 5 New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Greenhousei Benches, Vof which the following is aspeci- .iication v Y VMy f invention relates to greenhouse benches for containing earth in which plants land flowers are own. q Among the objects of the invention is the provision of a greenhouse bench of reinforced concrete made up in sections in such manner that thework of ,making the sections and assembling` them can be readily `carried on by ordinary labor such as is availablein greenhouses, and there is no necessity for the V,use of expensive andvhighly skilled workmen. Y

,The invention further consists in the improvement of devices of this'character in numerous important particulars, and with the foregoing and lrelated objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, parts, improvements and combinations herein set forth and claimed. i v

It has been necessary heretofore in constructing concrete benches for greenhouses 30 Yto make use of expensive forms whereby the complete benches may be made n sz'tu in Vreinforced concrete, necessitating substantial discontinuance of plant growing lin the house orhouses which are to be supplied wwith benches for a considerable interval, the space being iirst` cleared, then.y a considerable time being required for the settingV up of ,the forms for the concrete work and a further time being required for'the actual performance of the concrete, and a still further time being required to elapse before the concrete vis dry and hard and in lcondition to sustain the weight of the earth which must be placed Ythereon before the growing of flowers and the like can be resumed.. Also in putting in concrete benches in this way highly skilled labor is essential in order` to secure benches of satisfactory construction which will be durable and serve efciently the purpose for which vthey are intended.

Y, Greenhouse work is seasonal work, and frequently there are times when the workmen, aboutthe greenhouse can be economicallyen'gaged in the construction of benches, 4 but heretoforwso far as I am aware, inV

Application filed July 9, 1917. 'Serial No. 179,588,

about the greenhouse vfor the purpose of constructing benches, ithas been necessary to construct thebenches of material which -can be easily worked, such as wood, which, however, is not adapted for vthe construc- Vtion of benches of a strong,substantial and lasting character. According to Y the present invention a greenhouse bench isbuilt up ofjeasily constructed units which can be made at any,

timein spare hours by ordinary labor availyable vabout the greenhouse and which may be cured and hardened ready for yuseV and may be simply and readily` assembled with- Specicaton of Letters klatent. i Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

Vorder to utilize' the spare labor available y out they necessity of any skilled workmanship, all that is required being to place the parts inproper relative relation and preferably to fill the .openings leftfor that purpose with a proper binding material, such as cementmortar. j With units completed ready for assembly andA dried and hardened andA readyto be put together, thereis.Y no occasion for putting any part of the green- 4house out of use for any considerable period, vbut the new benches can be put in place` substantiallyjas the old benches are removed and be ready `and available for use within a very short time. l

In the accompanying Vdrawings I have illustrated one formV of greenhouse bench embodying myl invention and theV several sections which go tok make up the-bench when assembled together, but it is to be Yunderstood that the same are presented only for the purpose of affording, a clear understanding of my invention and that the scope dened by my claims.

`In `said drawings Figure 1 is a view -in `same is not limited thereto but is of the perspective, with parts broken away, of a greenhouse bench made up of :assembled Y units of concrete. Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are perspective views, with partsv broken away, of a side member, a` floor member and a supporting beam, respectively. Fig. 5 is a plan view, with parts brokenaway, showing the relative arrangement of two floor. sections placed in alinement with one another; Fig. 6 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, showing one end of an end member for the benches.

Benches in accordance with the invention may be made of any length. In Fig.. 1 I have4 illustrated, for convenience of .showing, a benchwhichj is two sections in lengtln .Y

Y ,In said Fig. 1, reference numeral lOIfis applied to designate the bench generally. 111 indicates cross beams which are preferably formed with notches 12 near their'fends; and may have their outer ends of any form. Preferably the ends of the cross beams 11 are madeof oge'e form, as illustrated at 13.

' -vided with transverse notches 12 the-legs The legs 14 have meansfor positioning and holding them with respect `to the lcross beams, andlwhere the crossV beams aref proy111 may'have the vpreferably central upstand- Vnotches -ing projections orrlugs 15 tofit "in the AThe legs 14: are', `'preferably 12. taperedtowardI their lower ends, and vvwhere, as' islcustoma'rily' the case, the bench stands on the ground in the greenhouse, the legs 14: may'be'set for a fewinches in the ground and may-have a small Yquantity of concrete -mortar placed abouty their lower ends, a shallowopening being provided in the *ground for receiving thel ends of the legs and the mortar surrounding them, whereby a lirm vand solid footing may be' given to thebench and a firm and stiff standing 'structure'obtained Y The vbeams 11 are placed transversely of lthe benches, and the floor, sidel and end members are *supportedv thereby. The Yfloor Vmembers l16 'y are preferably narrower at their bottoms thanl atv their tops and may be provided' with lsides 17, 17 converging ,downwardly toward one another, as shown in Fig. "With such arrangement, when the floor members' 16 are placed adjacent to one another, leaving narrowfopenings 18 therebetween for the'escape of lwater and for ventilation, theseopenings 18 are practically "never clogged up, as anymaterial which passes through the narrow` openings between the topsof the Hoor members falls through to the ground, y and (alsov the Acirculation of `air is assisted both by the fact that the openings will not clog up, and because'of the fact that openings' `hz'tvingwide mouths at theirf'bottoms are' presented for 'the up- 'wardly'movmg air whichk readilyY passes through the opening-between the floor mem- `b'ers""and.into and through 'theearth contained 'in thebenoh, thus assuring'pro-per ventilation andaeration.

vWVith the'iioor .members arranged 1ongi- Y tudin'allyfin the 'manner described, it A'beo omestipossible'to provide drainage and ventilation openings Vtherebetween throughout thewidth ofthe bench and close up to the VIside members so that there is no dead or undrainedA and Yunventilz'ited spacefleft at the sides of the r bench, as would result where the supportingV beamsl are placed longitudinally and the Hoor members arranged transversely '0o `bridgeover the space between the longitudinalsupporting beams.

jntheformgshown, andi ijn/order to siecuresuchY openings close' tofthe side wal1s` I 'tions 24 and `horizonta preferably combine side Walls and floor membersfor the outer sides of the benches in a single piece, this construction also makingit possible to obtain side members which have abroad base and whichstand'erect and are not pushed or tilted outward by.

the weight of earth contained'i'n the bench. In Fig. 2 thereis shown one of the side members 19 which comprises an upstanding portion 20 and ai bottom part '21 formedinof the bench for aj short distance,`the -portio'n`21 serving to Vmake-np a part 'of the 'member 1S a broad,"=flat base so that lit is not readily 'pushed out or overturned. This horizontal portion 21 is preferably comparad tegr-ally therewith and projecting inwardly Vtively narrow so'that thefopening 18 between itandthe adjacent/Hoor'member"y 16 is substantially close' to' the sidewall 21 of ythe bench, 'thus affording "drainage and "ventilation close up to the sides, or at leastso close thereto as is desirable 'or requisite. These side wall membersare preferably formed vwith a notched-outcorner 22, as in- `dicated in Fig. 2, which portion isfilled Y with binding material such as cementmortar when the bench is assembled as hereinafter described. Y

The end members 23 of the'benchesV are preferably similar toY the'side members in construction, comprising upright lwallV porportions "325i :at the v Y lower edges thereof and preferablyformed integral f* therewith and affording broad,

like, and in `the caseof ,the'ffloor' members,

the reinforcing' means -`preferably extend 'beyondthe'ends of thel'separate piecesfas indicated in Fig. 5V kwhere'the reinforcing members 27 are shown 'extending at 2 8be`- .yond'` 'the'endsf cf the 'respectivefloor mem- Y bers and so"arrangedasftht' theprojecga ing- Vends of 'the reinforcing' pieces in one floor member are preferably spaced a Vshort distance away' from thesimilar projecting end pieces in the adjacentf'floor imember.

In" theform 'shown the reinforcing members consistpof rods extending endwisejthrough the sections andconverging at a" slight yangle so that those proj ectingfrom' one endof the floor Vmemberv are somewhat elosertogether than those projectingffrom the'opposi'te end of such member and also than' these projecting from the adjacent end of the next iioor member in the series. n-'assembling the fioor members a space 29 is preferably left therebetween where the ends are supported on the cross beams 11, into which space the reinforcing means, as 2S, project, and such space is preferably filled with cementitious material such as cement mortar, suchmate-l rial also extending into the cut out portions 22 inthe parts 21 of the side wallmember 19, which cut outsQQ are preferably arranged in space between the floor members Vfilled withV cementitious material 30, so that all. the parts are firmly and securely bound together when the mortar is set and hardened. Likewise a space iseprefera-bly left between the end members 2,3 and the floor` members, and such space is filled with cementitious material 31, the same also extending into and filling the under-cut notch or ehamfer l26 inV the end members 24 and forming aj binding for holding these parts tightly and securely together. Cement mortar or the like cementitious material may be used, of course, in the joint where any two parts come together, and this is particularly desired if it is found that in the arrangement of the parts a crack or opening is left at the juncture of two adjacent sections.

It will be seen that by the present inven` tion it is possible to construct efficient anddurablegreenhouse benches by the labor ordinarily available in greenhouses, that the sections may be made up and set aside to harden from time to time as there is opportunity therefor, and that when a sufficient number of sections are available it is readily possible to Vremove the old benches and im mediately replace them with new, the only time that is required to make the benches available for use, save for the actual settingV up work, being the short time necessary for the cement mortar comprised in my improved bench to harden, and inasmuch as no strain is required to be borne by such mortar, it is not necessary that it be permitted to cure and harden for anextended period, as would be required, for example,

the case of newly molded lioor beams. Sectional benches of concrete embodying the present invention may be taken dowmas for example, when the greenhouseman wants to make changes in his floorrlayout or the like, and can be rerected in other positions or locations, and by making the cementitious filling between sections of suitable character, as, for example,by reduction of the cement content thereof, this can readily be done without injury to the sectional parts of which the bench is made up. The slabs making up the floor may be spaced greater or lesser distances apart, adapting theblench to the particular owersor plants which are being grown. Dirt may readily be shoveled substantial alinement with the` out,l without obstruction, by reason of the they eanbe handled by one man, with'also ay consequent saving in material. Other advantages of the invention have already been pointed out.

w 1t is to be understood that the embodiment `illustrated and described is for the purpose of aEording a clear understanding Y.of my invention only, and that I am not to be limited thereto, but that changes and modicationsmay be lresorted to within the scope of my claims and without departing from my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. l

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A greenhouse bench comprising mem-l bers of ready molded and hardened concrete, including transverselyV arranged cross beams, longitudinally arranged floor beams supported on 'the cross beams, and side wall members having notched inwardly projectingportions and forming a portion of the floor, and a filling of eementltious material on the cnoss beams adjacent to the side wall members and extending into and lling the notches within the side wall members.

2. A floor section of reinforced and hardened concrete for a greenhouse bench having reinforcing members projecting from its opposite ends, the projecting portions at one end being laterallydisplaced or oEset with respect to those at the opposite end and with respect to similar projecting portions on adjacent sections when such sections are arranged end to end.

3. A; greenhouse bench composed of members of ready molded and hardened concrete and comprising transversely arranged cross beams, longitudinally arranged individual floor beams on said cross beams and with longitudinal openings therebetween, and side wall members having floor portions integrally molded therewithand also adapted to rest on said cross beams, there being longitudinal openings between said side wall members and the floor members substantially close up to the side wall members.

. ff. A greenhouse bench composed of members of ready molded and hardened concrete and including transversely arranged' z bers'iof ready moldedv and hardenedconcrete, .Y including transversely arranged cross beams,

longitudinally arranged floor beams having their. ends supported on the cross beams and spaced apart and having reinforcing 'members vtherein and projecting Ainto the spaces therebetween, side wall members havingV notched inwardly projecting bottom members. and forming a portion of the floor,

Athe Iioor being provided with longitudinally arranged openings and certain of said openings being located closely adjacent to said side wall members, and a filling 'of cementitious material on the rcross beams and between lthe ends of the floor beams and including the projections of the reinforcing ma- -eterial and alsoffilling thenotches in the side wall members.

6. A greenhouse bench comprislng mem- "bers-of ready moldedland hardened concrete,

Y the undercut notches, the projecting kreincementitious material,

7. A -loor section of reinforced and har- Y -dened concrete for a greenhouse bench having downwardly convergingsides and pro` yvided with reinforcing members extending vlengthwise therethrough, said reinforcing members converging Vtoward one another from end to end-and projecting beyond the endsof the members, the projecting portions .being located closer together at one end than at the other.

8. A' Hoor section of reinforced and har- Y Vdened concrete for a greenhousebench havingy downwardly converging' sides and pro-v;

vided with reinforcingl members extending lengthwise therethrough, said reinforcing membersV projecting beyond the ends of the members, the projecting portions of thereinforcing members at one end being laterally displaced or oset with respect to those at the oppositefend and with respect to similar projecting portions on adjacent sections when such sections are arranged end to end. In testimony that I claim the` foregoing,

Iwhereto setxmy hand,this 5th day of July,

f FREDJ. MEAD.

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Washington, D. C. i v Y 

